Civil War Field Could Be Protected

A FIELD in Winwick which was the scene of a major turning point in the second English Civil War could be in line for extra protection.

Historic England has begun a four-week consultation to decide whether to add the Battle of Winwick (also know as the Battle of Red Bank) to the Register of Historic Battlefields.

It was the final battle fought in England during the war and the site includes:

the location of the initial engagement

the reputed royalist headquarters

the probable route of the parliamentarian cavalry during its flanking manoeuvre

the ground covered by the royalist forces during their flight towards St Oswald’s Church where many of their casualties occurred.

Experts at Historic England believe that enough of the battlefield will have been preserved for the ‘potential’ to make an archaeological examination of the land to further examine what happened in 1648.

The consultation says: “Like others of the period the battlefield will certainly have surviving artefacts, in particular shot from the various firearms used.